Eventually, after he seemed satisfied with Tane and Lan’s meagre, one-word answers to his questions, Feror left. Then Tane peered around wearily, strutted back into the room and clasped his hands. ‘So. Breakfast?’
‘You’re not supposed to bring people back here,’ Lan snapped. She was furious. The idiot was jeopardizing their security by showing the girl the way to their sanctuary, but he didn’t seem to give a shit.
‘We’re not jealous, are we?’
‘You’re a dick. You were out chasing women last night then? Glad to know you made the most of your evening off.’
‘On the contrary, dear lady. Those women were chasing us — they love us. We were showing off in some of the bars down on the first and second level — Bohr, I’d never known such attention. I say, being a Knight really does have its perks, doesn’t it?’
‘And as for keeping a low profile?’
‘Well, we must be out there to reassure the public of their safety, so we keep being told.’
‘Not like that.’
‘Our presence was essential, one might say,’ Tane replied, apparently oblivious to any point she made.
‘You’re trying to convince yourself?’ Lan asked. ‘You were just abusing your power so you could be a cheap slut.’
Tane leant back to fold his arms, quite proud of his new moniker. ‘Perhaps I could have that name stitched on the back of my uniform. You think that might work?’
A moment later, Tane’s gaze lurched to the door, his senses heightened. He seemed to sniff the air before relaxing with a smirk. ‘Now it’s your turn.’
‘What?’
‘Your lover boy is here.’
‘What the hell are you on about now?’ Lan frowned, her heart skipping a beat.
A knock on the door and Investigator Fulcrom entered the room, relaxed and well mannered, as always, his tail waving this way and that, elegantly cool.
Tane leant in and whispered, ‘Perhaps you might swoon a little less obviously?’ before walking forwards to Fulcrom. ‘Good morning, investigator. And what news do you bring on this fine morning?’
‘Tane, who was that girl walking out of here?’ Fulcrom enquired.
Just then, Vuldon’s door opened, and the big man escorted two young ladies out, one with brown hair and wide curves, the other skinny with coal-black hair. They, too, were dressed as if they’d just come in from a night out in the city, with fancy clothes and jewels sparkling on their chests. He paraded them nonchalantly through the lounge, completely ignoring the others, guiding them to the exit. ‘See you soon, ladies,’ he mumbled.
‘How on earth did you manage that?’ Tane demanded as Vuldon closed the door. ‘You don’t even have a personality.’
‘Some of us don’t need to yap their way into bed with a woman,’ Vuldon replied coolly.
‘Vuldon,’ Fulcrom snapped. ‘For fucksake. You are not supposed to bring anyone back here. What if one of them works for the anarchists? If you want to bring people back, they must be vetted thoroughly.’
‘I already did that,’ Vuldon grinned. ‘They had nothing to hide.’
‘Oh please…’ Lan said.
Fulcrom lowered his face into his hands.
‘Lighten up, old boy,’ Tane said, full of energy. ‘We were heroes down there. People loved us — they love everything we stand for. Whatever the Emperor wanted, it’s working quickly. We really mean something, in such a short space of time. Women kept coming up to us, and men slapped us on the back. We meant something to the people of the city, Fulcrom — it’s intoxicating, so allow us a little fun.’
‘Well, while you were enjoying yourselves,’ Fulcrom said, ‘the rest of us were trying to solve the murders of three members of the city guard — brutal killings, and each of them in plain view of the public.’
‘Oh,’ Tane said.
‘Oh exactly,’ Fulcrom replied.
‘One in front of the library, and two more on the gateways to the third and fourth levels, and there’re still no leads to finding the killers of them or the councillor.’
‘Sorry,’ Tane muttered, ‘but we didn’t hear about them.’
‘Don’t you know any better? The more of a reputation you get, the more you have to lose. You’ve all got a past, things you’d rather weren’t shared about — you’re playing into the Emperor’s hands even further. He wants you to become stars so it binds you further to your job. You’ll be a Knight for life at this rate, no chance to get away from it all when our work is done. How much more vulnerable are you all to being exposed when you’re celebrities?’
Nothing but silence. Fulcrom was right, he was always right.
‘Exactly. Before you had nothing to lose. Now, you’ve much more, and every time you invite people back here, that risk of not only exposure, but of fucking up the efforts of so many people looking to reduce crime, all gets greater.’
‘All right,’ Tane sighed. ‘You’ve made your point.’
Fulcrom paused, and eventually calmed. He took a deep breath. ‘Good. So, while people were busy getting killed yesterday, where precisely were you all?’
‘I was out, but there were only a couple of petty thefts — they were quite open and shut though,’ Lan told him.
‘Open and shut,’ Fulcrom replied. ‘Right.’
‘Do you think I’m lying?’
‘No — it’s just that these petty crimes, they might be an effort to distract you while something bigger’s going on elsewhere in the city.’
‘I didn’t realize,’ Lan replied.
‘It’s OK,’ Fulcrom said. ‘I’m only just working these things out for myself.’
‘You expect us to be everywhere at all times?’ Vuldon remarked bitterly. ‘There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city. We can’t stop every murder.’
‘I’m sure Fulcrom didn’t mean that,’ Lan said.
‘Well, you would take his side, wouldn’t you?’ Vuldon muttered.
Tane mouthed the words ‘Lover boy’ at Lan, and Fulcrom glanced to each of them in confusion.
Lan knew Fulcrom was smart enough to know what was going on, to read the silences, the conversation that wasn’t being spoken here. She felt incredibly awkward and embarrassed and shy, yet there was something about having her affections implied that offered some relief — because she sure as hell wasn’t going to say anything about her growing feelings for the investigator.
‘These murders,’ Vuldon said eventually, ‘what can you tell us?’
‘Each of them were committed in a public location,’ Fulcrom said, sitting on one of the plush settees. ‘Each victim was a soldier in the city guard, on a highly visible location. There was a note by one of the bodies, scrawled by the culprits — who we believe to be the anarchists.’
‘What did it say?’ Lan asked.
‘It said “You put symbols out here, with deeds we will be removing others”.’
‘A retaliation,’ Vuldon declared. He sat next to Fulcrom, his bulk making the investigator look like a child. ‘Which means you — or the Emperor — will want us to retaliate back.’
‘Exactly,’ Fulcrom replied. ‘Because they won’t stop until more people are dead. We’re dealing with a strange psychology here.’
‘What do you want us to do then?’ Lan asked.
‘As soon as you’re all ready, we’re heading into Caveside. The Inquisition has handed over to me the names and addresses of those we think are crime lords of varying effect — those who manage guilds on this side of the city, ones who are known to have their claws reaching deep into the caves. We visit them one by one and see what we can find, see what they know. It’s essential we find Shalev, and the Emperor is growing more demanding by the day.’
‘And if we don’t find her by this method?’ Lan prompted. ‘It seems unlikely a criminal would just hand over an ally.’
‘We try something else. But even if this doesn’t work, we’ll hopefully be able to put the fear into some of Caveside’s shadier characters.’
‘And it’s a chance to visit some old friends,’ Vuldon added, smirking.